Chapter Text
Will rushed over as soon as he heard the news- which was a few hours after what happened actually happened.
He’d been working a shift in the infirmary, enjoying the calming atmosphere as he hummed to himself. There were only a few patients with minor injuries resting about, so Will had some time to just relax by himself and enjoy a peaceful dinner under the sun.
Under his father’s careful, comforting presence.
Eventually, the last of the patients cleared out, marking the end of his shift and the start of his weekend. It was still Friday, but it was late enough to just throw the towel in and take the remainder of the day off- which is exactly what he was planning to do.
Will had walked up to the Apollo cabin, hopped into the shower, melted against the warmth splattering against his back, and changed into some comfy clothes that would do for the remainder of the night.
He planned on catching up to the much-needed cuddles his adorable boyfriend shyly admitted he missed, and if he was being honest, Will wasn’t planning on coming back to Cabin Seven after he got Nico in his arms.
“Do you guys know where Nico is?” He’d asked his siblings, completely oblivious to just what had gone down while he was enjoying his dinner.
Kayla and Austin simply snickered at each other.
After much pushing and prodding, he found out just what had happened while he was happily looking forward to a night in with his favorite person in the entire world.
Now, barely a minute later, he burst into Cabin Twenty, ignoring the shrill shriek and heavy thud as his eyes scanned the area. Will’s gaze immediately landed over to the occupied desk on the far side of the room, which is where his very dear best friends stood.
Will couldn’t wait to murder them.
“What the Hades did you do!?”
Cecil, who had immediately moved to grab the giant book he had dropped, held it upside down as he wiggled his brow. “Using your father-in-law’s name in vain, are we now?”
From beside him, Lou Ellen grinned.
Will was about ready to pull his hair out. “You turned Nico into a toddler!?”
They, at least, had the decency to grimace.
“It was all Cecil’s fault.” Lou Ellen crossed her arms. “He was being stupid and made me drop my new magic balls. You know, they’re like the pig balls, but these turn whoever they reach into a baby- which just happened to be Nico.”
“And why haven’t you turned him back?”
Another grimace.
“I don’t really… have the basis of this down.” Lou Ellen turned back to the various beakers sprawled out on the table, holding one of them up to her face and sloshing the liquid in it around.
When she added something else to it, a puff of smoke blew right towards her face.
“So… you have no idea what you’re doing?” Will felt the corner of his eye twitch.
Lou Ellen shot him another frown. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”
“Yeah, because the science stuff really says it all.”
“Daughter of Hecate here.” She rolled her eyes. “This science stuff is actually witchcraft, which my mom is known for. I am planning on majoring in chemistry, though- once I eventually finish high school. Hey, do you think—"
“My boyfriend is a toddler!” Will snapped, immediately crinkling his nose. “Forget I said that. Look, you stay here and do whatever you need to do to turn him back. Cecil, you’re coming with me.”
Will grabbed Cecil by the elbow, and as soon as he started to drag him along, Lou Ellen grabbed Cecil’s other arm.
“Oh, no.” She glared. “He’s the one who made this mess, so he’s going to help me fix it.”
Will tugged Cecil towards him. “Well, I need him to help me find Nico.”
Lou Ellen yanked him back. “Seriously? You can literally ask anybody else- I need Cecil here.”
“Did you forget Cecil is an expert at messing things up?”
“That’s what I said!” Cecil jerked in their hold.
Lou Ellen shot them both a dirty look. “I am not slaving over all of this by myself- especially when it wasn’t even my fault.”
“Ladies, ladies…” Cecil grinned, throwing his hands up and nearly smacking Lou Ellen with the book he still held in his hand. “I know you all want a piece, but please, one at a time.”
Will immediately let go of Cecil’s elbow, steadying himself with a deep breath before sighing. “Fine. Keep him.”
“I’m not a dog, you know,” Cecil grumbled, to which Will raised a brow. “Okay, maybe I do need constant supervision- but that’s not the point!”
“Uh-huh.” Will turned to Lou Ellen. “Just hurry up and make your potion. I’m going to go see if I can find Nico.”
“Last time we saw him, he was with Percy and Jason.” Cecil offered, which just made Lou Ellen smile all the more.
“He was so cute!” She squealed. “I know you always wondered what Nico’s baby pictures would look like- well, now you have the real deal!”
This isn’t helping, Will internally screamed, gritting his teeth as he turned on his heel and walked right out of Cabin Twenty. He could just hear Lou Ellen and Cecil’s teasing words before they even said them, which is why he got out of there as fast as he could.
Besides, he now had a vague idea of where Nico was.
Not really- Will didn’t know where either Percy or Jason would be in their spare time, but he had a few guesses floating around at the back of his head.
He checked both their cabins, the campfire, canoe lake, and strawberry fields- all coming up empty. Will was on his way to check the sword arena, cutting through the cabins when he quite literally ran into just who he was looking for.
Percy’s head hit his before Will could even blink, sending a flare of pain reverberating across his entire being. Maybe it was because of the constant headaches the Ares children gave him during their trips to the infirmary, but the ensuing throb wasn’t the worst he’s felt.
He couldn’t really say the same for Percy, who was clutching at his temple as stumbled back, muttering out a few choice words.
Will quickly composed himself, blinking away the pain and dragging his eyes towards Percy. Nico wasn’t anywhere in sight, and just when Will was about to throw an onslaught of questions his way, he noticed another figure right behind Percy.
It was Jason, and he was very visibly holding back a laugh. The amusement was clear in his eyes, but Will didn’t have any time to ponder over that- because right in Jason’s arms, resting against his shoulder, was a small, shadowy lump.
At first look, it was nothing but a pile of blankets. If Will didn’t know any better, he might not have thought twice about the little bump in the comforters- except, there was a small rise and fall to it, too rhythmical to be anything other than small puffs of breath.
That and the tiny arm slung across Jason’s collarbone, its pale little fingers curling around the collar of his shirt.
Nico.
“Where have you guys been?” Will crossed his arms, feeling the telltale beginnings of a frown forming on his face. Nico had told him it was his doctor's frown, a methodical and demanding expression.
Percy rubbed at the knot forming at his temple. “Hey, man.”
Will raised a brow.
“We were at the beach.” Jason offered, coming to stand beside them.
“At this time?” Will glanced towards the moon., which was beginning to peek above the forest. He knew the campfire was about to begin, so the thought of anybody hanging around the beach just now didn’t sit all that well with him.
Granted, they didn’t look like they went for a swim- but who let them wander around by themselves? Especially with a… with a toddler.
“We didn’t go swimming, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Jason grinned, then, just as quickly, he paused. It’s as if he just remembered exactly who was in his arms, and the circumstances that lead them to that very moment. He gestured to the bundle in his arms. “I mean, we, ah, spent a lot of time building sandcastles.”
Will pursed his lips, his gaze dropping down to the tiny hand curled around Jason’s shirt. “You, Percy, and…”
“Nico.” Percy suddenly nudged his way right beside Jason, his fingers prodding at the blankets. He even pushed them aside, and nothing could have prepared Will for the sight he was met with.
Chubby cheeks, silky black hair, and long, fluttering eyelashes were what immediately caught his eyes, followed by a splatter of barely-there freckles on the bridge of a cute, squishy little button nose.
Sure enough- this baby was truly Nico di Angelo.
His lips were parted around one of his tiny fingers, hooked against his bottom lip as a copious amount of drool made its way from Nico’s chin down to the fabric of Jason’s shirt.
Will felt like grimacing, but he couldn’t quite get any part of him to move.
“…Will? Will?”
“I think we broke him.”
Then, there was something frantically being waved right in front of his face.
Will blinked. It suddenly hit him how clueless he’d been the entire time Nico wasn’t himself- how he’d just sat in the infirmary, blissfully unaware of the trouble his boyfriend had been unsuspectingly thrown into.
It bothered him more than he’d like to admit.
“Did no one…” Will pursed his lips. “Did no one think to tell me about this?”
“Yeah…” Jason trailed on. “We kind of… forgot about that.”
Will forced himself to take a slow, steadying breath.
“No hard feelings, dude.” Percy patted him on the back. “We all sort of panicked when Nico was suddenly a toddler. After we figured out what happened, well, there isn’t much we could do until Lou Ellen fixes this. We didn’t want to worry you, so we didn’t say anything at first, but I guess it did slip from our minds…”
At that, Percy glanced over to Nico, a fond smile on his face.
Will was barely able to suppress his frown. “And I shouldn’t be worried because…?”
“As we said, we already had time to panic.” Jason butt in, slowly rocking Nico in his arms. “ I guess, after it all wore off, we realized there wasn’t much we could do. Instead of fretting over it and freaking little Nico out, why not make the best of this whole situation?”
“Right.” Will resisted the urge to pinch at the bridge of his nose. As much as he wanted to pop a nerve over… everything- keeping Nico busy and away from the noise was the smartest thing to do. What wasn’t smart, on the other hand… “So, you two decided to do that by taking him, a toddler, to the beach?”
“It was Percy’s idea!” Jason exclaimed, immediately flinching when Nico stirred.
“Jason?” Annabeth called, her voice soft, yet lined with worry. “Is that you?”
“And me!” Percy called, his eyes immediately shinning when Annabeth turned the corner. Annabeth herself huffed a sigh of relief.
“Dear gods, we were starting to get worried—” Then, her eyes landed on Will. “Oh, Will… I see you met baby Nico.”
Will grit his teeth, flailing his arms over to the Big Three trio. “You’re the one who approved of this?!”
“Hey, I did not approve of anything!” Though, Annabeth hid a smile behind her hand. “It was Nico who immediately attached himself to Jason.”
“The favorite big bro—” Jason muttered, his prideful smile interrupted by Percy’s elbow to his ribs.
“Look, Nico was a little overwhelmed. He would only go wherever Jason went, so we sent him off to distract him. Percy tagged along.”
“And you thought that was a good idea.” Will slowly drawled.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. “It’s not that bad of an idea.”
“Do you know where they went?”
“No—”
“To the beach.”
“And that’s not so bad.” Though, she had a dangerous glint in her eyes when she turned to her boyfriend. “I’m assuming neither of you let Nico out of your sight.”
Percy raised his hands in defense. “Nothing bad happened! All we did is build sandcastles and do some water tricks.”
“And some air tricks.” Jason smiled.
“Anyway, it’s time to get Nico to bed.” Annabeth scooted closer, taking Nico from Jason’s arms. She cooed, rocking him back and forth as she uttered out sweet little murmurs and lullabies.
Really, he had no idea Annabeth liked babies.
Apparently, neither did Percy or Jason.
Annabeth slowly stopped her coos, brushing Nico’s bangs out of his eyes and flushing at the look all three of them were giving her. “What? I like babies.”
“You like… babies,” Percy repeated, his eyes narrowing and cheeks pinkening.
Will wanted to snicker, but he had a feeling he’d meet the end of Annabeth’s blade as soon as he did.
“Percy, Jason,” Annabeth smiled sweetly, tucking Nico’s head under her chin. “Go away.”
And that’s all it took for the two to be on their way- well, not before reassuring them Nico would be well looked after during the night.
Which is something Will wanted to know more about.
“You know, Nico could stay in the infirmary.” Will started, following close behind as Annabeth walked on. “I could take the night shift. Has anyone given Nico a check-up? Let’s go—"
“Will, I know you’re worried, but you have no reason—” Annabeth paused. “Well, some reason to be, but it's all going to be fine. Some of the Aphrodite girls and I have been researching toddler’s needs and other basic things. We even scrounged up a makeshift toddler bed.”
“Which is where, exactly?”
Annabeth climbed some steps, which led to- “In the Athena cabin.”
Will followed after her. “Alright. Okay. I’m okay with that.”
“Well, I wasn’t about to let the Aphrodite girls get their hands on him. Valentina was going on and on about his pinchable cheeks.” Annabeth moved to stroke Nico’s plush little cheek.
Thankfully, Cabin Six was currently completely empty. There were only a handful of Athena campers, and even then, Will probably trusted them the most. Still, he trusted himself more than anyone else, but he didn’t want to disturb Nico anymore than they had.
As Annabeth set him down in the makeshift toddler bed- a regular bed pushed to the wall, lined with about a dozen pillows, a few stuffed animals, and some fluffy blankets- Will took the time to truly look at toddler Nico.
It was true- Will had thought about how Nico would look like as a baby before. He liked children, especially toddlers. They were terribly cute, and just picturing Nico like that…
Granted, this whole situation was a little weird.
Annabeth was in the process of tucking Nico in when she looked over her shoulder, gesturing towards Nico with a little smile. “Come help me, won’t you?”
Will nodded, immediately moving to her side and securely tucking Nico in with one of the fluffy blankets. Between all the running around and excruciating worry, Will hadn’t had a chance to truly appreciate Nico in his two to three-year-old state.
Even now, Nico slept like an angel. It was truly like looking at one of those old renaissance paintings- the ones with the babies in the clouds, wings sprouting from their backs and reigning purity down on anything and everything.
Except, Nico was much more adorable.
Will felt his panic slowly starting to leave him.
“You know, Percy and Jason have their weird big bro thing with Nico, but…” She stroked Nico’s cheek. “He really has wormed his way into our hearts, you know.”
Will had to swallow down the lump in his throat- everything got emotional so fast- but eventually, he nodded. “I know.”
“Get some sleep.” Annabeth smiled at him, her expression gentle and adoring. “I’ll look after him.”
Will nodded, but before he just up and left, he leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss to Nico’s temple.
Sweet dreams, sunshine.
…
He had to say, toddler-Nico was a lot more enthusiastic than present-Nico.
Will had arrived at breakfast a little later than usual. He, of course, woke up right with the sun, but debated for a long time whether he should go visit Nico or wait until a reasonable time to wake a toddler. That debate ended up going on for hours, and by the time he finally got to making his way over to Cabin Six, it was, once again, completely empty.
And breakfast was very much as lively as it could be.
It didn’t take long at all for Will to catch sight of Nico’s little frame, bouncing from here to there and babbling about this and that.
Nico waved to anybody who waved first, but other than that, he kept to himself. It looked like he was in his own little world, ducking behind pillars, weaving through tables, and shooting out some words that didn’t sound like English every few minutes.
It was all Will could do not to go straight up to Nico and smother him with love.
Eventually, the banter died down, and Nico was nowhere to be seen. Will could still hear everybody murmuring about the adorableness Nico radiated, but he couldn’t actually see him.
Even his siblings were talking about it, cooing over Nico and his apparent trip to the Apollo table- before Will had made it to breakfast, that is.
“Where is he now?” Will butt in, eyes scanning the entire dining pavilion.
“With Percy.” Austin gestured, tilting his head over to Table Three. Sure enough, Nico was plastered to Percy’s side, timidly nibbling on an orange slice.
“Of course,” Will mumbled, the twinge of bitterness marring his features before he had time to even process it.
“Do not tell me you’re jealous, William.” Kayla teased, digging her finger right into his side. Will slapped her hand away.
“Whatever.”
Soon enough, breakfast was now over, with a few campers lingering about. Most of them were the girls, fussing over Nico and expressing how enamored they were with him, but other than them, there were a few others with who Will wanted to catch up.
Will himself made his way over to Table Three, where Percy, Annabeth, and Jason now lingered, keeping a watchful eye on Nico. Percy and Jason were sitting with their backs to the table while Annabeth stood, her forearms planted on Percy’s shoulders.
“Hey guys,” he greeted, smiling at their nods. “What’s up?”
Percy leaning back into Annabeth’s arms, deflating almost immediately. “He’s scared of me.”
Valentina, who was standing nearby, nearly choked on her drink. “Scared? Please, Nico’s got such a crush on you.”
Now, it was Percy’s- and everybody’s, really- time to choke. “W-What?”
Valentina only grinned. “The wide eyes? Shy nature? The staring? You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed.”
Annabeth and Jason looked like they were two seconds away from bursting out into a fit of laughter.
“But he’s like…” Percy gaped, the calculations running wild on his face. “Three years old…”
“Toddlers get these puppy-dog crushes, if you haven’t noticed.” Valentina dreamily sighed. “They just stare and smile. It’s adorable…”
Percy gaped while Jason and Annabeth burst out laughing. Will pursed his lips.
“Man,” Jason moved to wipe an imaginary tear away. “good luck with that.”
“Not a word,” Percy mumbled, crossing his arms and staring off into space.
Just then, Nico came bouncing back, two flowers held tight in his little hands. Will’s heart thumped in his chest- this was the first time he was seeing Nico’s perfect doe-eyes, open and wide and simply curious to the world before him.
Last night, sleep had been a little difficult. While Annabeth had effectively assured him she could look after Nico, there was still that protective feeling gnawing at the back of Will’s mind. He would rather care for Nico himself- as his doctor, of course- but as much as he adored children, he had very little experience with children under ten years old.
Between him and everybody else, Annabeth was the most qualified candidate for the job.
When he eventually did fall asleep, the whole worry of it all slowly melted away. He spent a nice night dreaming about a mini-sized Nico, simply appreciating the natural excitement Nico was known for, but this time without the constant shy, self-consciousness of it all.
And there was another small problem- he adored babies, but the whole thing with baby Chuck left him scarred for life. This baby, at least, was his favorite person. There’d be no surprises, just his Nico in a small, fun-size package.
Plus, he was looking forward to listening to those cute Italian babbles.
Nico slowly approached, first moving up to Valentina and staring right up at her. Valentina smiled and waved, but once Nico presented her with one of the flowers, she gasped, placed a hand to her chest, and knelt down to Nico’s height. “For me? Oh, you’re just the cutest little thing ever!”
Valentina squeezed him in her arms, and Nico giggled. Will was absolutely sure he wouldn’t be able to survive if Nico stayed a toddler for much longer.
Nico happily bounced away, his eyes trained on Annabeth. He handed her the other flower, giggling once more when Annabeth tickled him by the sides and pulled funny faces, all with thank you’s attached at the end.
Once Annabeth was satisfied, she pulled away, ruffling Nico’s hair in the process. Nico himself settled beside her, sticking a finger in his mouth as he, sure enough, stared right at Percy.
Will frowned.
“You were right, Val.” Annabeth laughed, a certain sparkle twinkling in her eye as she looked towards Percy. “Even if you’re not his type.”
Percy slumped over this time, burying his face in his hands and muttering a thing or two under his breath.
“Don’t worry, Will,” Valentina clapped him on the shoulder, “I have a feeling he’ll be the same around you.”
As a daughter of Aphrodite, Will had no reason to doubt her. Valentina had a third eye for these kinds of things, which is why it wasn’t as surprising as it would have been when Nico’s eyes shifted over to his, immediately widening as he shyly ducked behind Annabeth.
It… made a surge of smugness wash over him.
Not the time, Solace.
“Hey, Neeks.” Will smiled, slowly approaching the pair. Nico hid further from view, occasionally peeking out from the human shield he had taken purchase to. “Do you know who I am?”
Nico blinked.
“He mostly speaks Italian.” Jason offered. “Chiara said it’s random baby talk, but from what she gathered, he sort of understands us.”
“But we’ve yet to get anything out of him.” Annabeth smiled, ruffling Nico’s hair.
Will hummed. The language barrier and apparent shyness weren’t that much of a problem- Will was completely fine with doing most of the talking.
So he crouched down to about Nico’s height, ignoring the way his heart fluttered when those round, innocent eyes peered at him through messy bangs.
“Well, I’m Will.” He stuck out his hand, offering Nico a gentle smile. “Your… friend.”
Nico looked from his hand, to Will, and to his hand again. Once Annabeth gently edged him forward, he reached out with the hand that wasn’t currently in his mouth and wrapped his little fingers around Will’s pointer.
Will had to physically restrain himself from bringing Nico into his arms and squeezing him to death with utter affection.
That’s when Valentina’s shriek pierced the air. “Wait right there! I’m going to go get my camera!”
Jason frowned. “But we aren’t allowed—"
“Don’t think we haven’t snuck anything in!” Valentina ran off, but Will couldn’t pay much attention to what the others were going on about- not when Nico was slowly creeping out from behind Annabeth.
Will took the moment to feel for anything he should be concerned about, thoroughly pleased when he felt nothing but perfect health coursing through tiny-Nico. Well rested, energetic, and most importantly- happy.
Will smiled, much to Nico’s embarrassment.
At least, that’s what it looked like. Tiny-Nico had a knack for holding his finger in his mouth and shyly staring at whatever caught his eye, so he couldn’t make much from Nico’s current gaze.
“Are you full, sunshine?” Will tried to recall what he’d seen Percy feeding him- an orange slice, some scrambled eggs, and probably half a pancake. It sounded like a substantial meal, but he just had to double-check.
Nico titled his head.
“Did you eat a lot of food?” Will tried again, placing his hand on his stomach. Nico mimicked him, placing a tiny hand on his tummy as he gnawed on his fingers.
“I’m pretty sure he ate a full meal,” Percy mumbled, melting into Annabeth’s side. “Everything except two pancakes.”
“And how long did he sleep for?” Will turned to Annabeth, who met his eyes with a small laugh.
“He slept all throughout the night.” Annabeth punched his shoulder. “I know you’re worried, but he’s fine. Baby Nico is a lot less stubborn than Nico usually is.”
“Bah!” Tiny Nico jumped, as if protesting the jab to his former self. He proceeded to babble along, poking at Annabeth’s belt loops.
Valentina rushed back just a second later, one of those green disposable cameras in tow. She ushered everyone into a group photo, making sure to capture Nico’s attention with lots of noise and frantic hand movements.
And even after that, Valentina insisted on taking much more natural, lighthearted pictures. So they went about their morning, their very own personal photographer just one step away.
At least Nico will have an abundance of baby pictures- once everything goes back to normal, that is.